The City That Never Sleeps...

…is located on the Hudson River.  Just because New York is formerly New Amsterdam, does not mean that the public transportation is open all night here. 

So let’s talk transit: New York is the ONLY place where I have seen such an occurrence.  Here, the trams and buses close at – you guessed it – 12:30.  Say what you will (and I will) about the MBTA, but in Denver, DC, and Amsterdam between 12:30 and 1:00 is also the standard closing time. 

The difference?  There is a schedule, and by God, if it says 11:57, a bus will be turning the corner at 11:56.  And this is for every stop, not just the major stations, leaving the average street stops to fend for themselves and ballpark a timeframe.

Speaking of ballparks: unless I’m going to one (which is on the other side of the city) the best way to get around is – without question – a bike.  Now I realize I am in Amsterdam and to make such a claim is not entirely astute, but allow me to explain.  While bike lanes are virtually non-existent outside of Cambridge, here they mirror the streets and sidewalks at every turn.

Essentially, the priority scale of the right of way goes like this:

Bikes > Pedestrians > Trams > Buses = Taxis > cars

As long as pedestrians stay off the bike lanes they are fine and trams and cars are smart enough to yield and rather than trying to beat them through the crosswalk by jumping the curb while leaning on the horn, flipping off said pedestrian and straining for scathing eye contact.  As for the bikes, the bike lanes and side streets are theirs for the riding with minimal peril.  I even slowed down as the bike lane crossed a rotary and what happened?  The driver looked at me with a motion that suggested “well aren’t you gonna go?”

The hardest part is that I THINK that there are directions and places you have to move to while on a bike in order to be in the right bike lane.  I have no idea what the rules of the road with bikes really are and the ones that I have learned, I’ve learned the hard way.  For example, there are stop lights for the bike lanes, but they are rather counter-intuitive coming from Boston.  When the light is red, it counts down until green, much like the crosswalk lights count down until you actually have to yield to traffic again.  I ran a lot of red lights the first day.

Trams move amongst the traffic much like any other vehicle, but there are also tram only lanes…that the buses can go in.  Ok that makes sense…until the taxis enter them too.  Fair enough that’s public transportation too, but then cars follow them.  I have no idea what can and can’t be in the bus only lane.

However, motorized scooters hold the trump card.  They are bikes so they can go in the bike lanes, they are motorized so they can keep up with regular traffic, but they are too damn fast so they always go past the bikes and you don’t know that they are coming because you hear the motor but assume that it’s in a vehicle lane where such vehicles are suppose to be.

In any case, I love my bike.  It keeps my culture curve on a constant positive and makes it exciting to get to and from places.  My favorite part about my bike, however, is the ferry.  While it is the one pitfall of riding a bike (because it too closes), it’s a rather social experience taking the ferry together.  The best part is that it is the one means of transport that is free.  “How do they manage that?” you might ask, I certainly did.  Apparently they are subsidized through the Dutch government being classified as “moving bridges” and “you can’t charge for a bridge”

…tell that to Mass DOT